I thought I was 74 but was told Im 75 Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday, stirred up a fresh controversy over his real age when he said he thought he was 74 but was told he was 75.
Buhari spoke when the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammed Bello, led a delegation to pay him Christmas homage at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The President, joined by some state governors and other top government officials, celebrated his 75th birthday penultimate Sunday. He was said to have been born on December 17, 1942, in Daura, in present day Katsina State.
While thanking his guests for the visit, Buhari recalled the health challenge that kept him away from the country for months earlier in the year, admitting that 2017 had been a tumultuous year for him.
The President said he had recovered well from the sickness because he obeyed his doctors who instructed him to be eating and sleeping well.





MINING SITE: Sanusi II Wades Into Dangote, BUA Crisis
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has intervened in the raging controversy between Dangote Group and BUA Group over a mining site located in Okpella area of Edo State.

Africa’s richest man and chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, owns Dangote industries limited, the producer of Dangote Cement, while business mogul, Abdulsamad Rabiu owns the BUA Group, producer of BUA cement. Both are natives of Kano.
The conflict over the rightful ownership of Mining Lease No 2541 between the duo has been on in the past few weeks, with both sides engaging in accusations and counter accusations, including name dropping in the media.
Obviously disturbed by the pace at which the war is taking, Emir Sanusi II stepped in by calling the two multi-billionaires to order so as to end the war, which is said to be doing more damage to their relationships and even affecting their business associates.



Tragic Xmas in Abuja
Christmas turned bloody yesterday for residents of Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
In the incident, 10 persons were reportedly killed, churches and houses razed in the clash between Gwari and Hausa/Fulani, which started at about nine o’clock in the morning.
Residents told Daily Sun that the crisis began when Christians were attending the Christmas service, and were attacked by Fulani leading to the burning down of the ECWA Church in the area.
It was gathered that the crisis between the Fulani and the Gwari who are the indigenes of the area had been lingering for sometime and that the Fulani who had allegedly been planning to carry out the attack, decided to do so on Christmas Day.



NNPC not FG bears the cost of fuel subsidy, say Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo clarified on Monday that the NNPC and not the Federal Government pays for the fuel subsidy that has emerged with the N171 landing cost as against the official retail price of N145.

In an interview with newsmen in Apapa Lagos, he said since the NNPC buys the fuel, it bears the cost. “NNPC is trading in fuel; the Federal Government is not, at the moment, paying for any subsidy. NNPC is trading. If you are buying and selling fuel, you would have to be able to pay for it. So, it’s not a question of government provision for subsidy, the Federal Government, at the moment, isn’t paying any subsidy. And don’t forget that the way that the NNPC trades is that, in many cases, NNPC is actually giving fuel; there is 445, 000 barrels of fuel. So really what you are seeing, in many cases, is more or less an exchange for PMS. So at the moment NNPC is paying the cost”.



2017 Nigeria’s most difficult year – Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said 2017 had been a very tough year for Nigeria, assuring citizens that 2018 will be prosperous.

“It has been a tough year for Nigeria and I hope next year will be a much more prosperous one,” the president said when he received a delegation of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) residents who paid him Christmas homage in the Presidential Villa, Abuja

Buhari, however, said God had answered the prayers of Nigerians as the rainy season was good and farmers recorded bumper harvest across the country.

“But God listened to the majority of us, the rainy season was very good and some states have got very good information from home; I never knew that the people from Kano who are more resourceful used to go to my area and hire farms. This year nobody hired farm, and nobody regretted it.



Gunmen raid Mainas house, handcuff guard
Gunmen on Christmas Eve (Sunday) raided the Kaduna home of the former Chairman of the Presidential Task Team on Pension Reforms, Abdulrasheed Maina.
The gunmen were allegedly said to be in search of cash and ammunition in the house.
Residents of Kano Street, Kawo New Extension, Kaduna where the house is located, said some of the gunmen came in military uniform, while others were in mufti.
The spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, ASP Aliyu Mukhtar, who confirmed the incident, noted that the command got a report from the Divisional Police Office in Kawo regarding the raid.



Banks Spend N34.2bn On IT, e-Business Infrastructure
Given the drive to support the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy on cashless society and leverage on Information Technology, a total of eight deposit money banks have spent N34.2 billion on IT and electronic business infrastructure in nine months ended September 30, 2017.
Investigations by LEADERSHIP revealed that in prior nine months, the same banks spent N25 billion on Information Technology-related infrastructure, software, computers and introduction of mobile apps.

Commercial banks operating in Nigeria have increasingly depended on the deployment of IT infrastructure to drive their processes, grow their business operations in order to deliver superior financial performance to meet and surpass customer expectations.

The banks surveyed are Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), Stanbic IBTC, Fidelity Bank Plc, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and Sterling bank Plc.





This is our worst Christmas, Nigerian laments

A combined team of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and security agents on Sunday uncovered illegal reservoirs of fuel in Abuja.

Speaking at the site of the mini depot, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said it was saddening to make such discoveries in the city center when less than 500 meters away, motorists were on endless queues. Hundreds of jerry cans, 200-liter drums, and 500 liter tanks were uncovered in a sting operation by the team in the city center. According to him, the perpetrators have caused untold pain and hardship on Nigerians during a crucial season as Christmas. “In the war room (where crucial issues are discussed during fuel crises), we asked ourselves why the situation (fuel queues) persists.

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